Case Study: CPG
Raising the bar for a FDA-regulated, Fortune 200 consumer goods company
Healthcare and personal products leader improves quality, AHT, and attrition with HGS nurses
At a glance
- Client since 2005 (for consumer) and 2012 (for professional services)
- Delivered from Peoria, Illinois
- More than 60 agents, including licensed practicing nurses, and 1 registered nurse
- Voice (inbound and outbound customer service and sales); chat, email and social media monitoring (consumer); email and fax (professional)
- Languages supported include English, French, and Spanish
Professional services
HGS handles phone, email, and fax support for professional-service customers, including dental offices, drug stores, and government agencies. This aspect of the program is focused on sales and includes inbound and outbound orders for toothpaste, toothbrushes, and prescription products. Agents also take calls from the client’s sales management and sales representatives, assisting with CRM resources and territory management as needed.
Program performance
The client has regularly cited HGS for high performance:
- “HGS has achieved excellent performance against service and quality KPI targets, exceeding nearly all benchmarks. Further, cost discipline has been outstanding, delivering better financial results than targeted in the budget for two consecutive years.”
Because this client has experienced profitable growth and expansion worldwide, HGS has been committed to innovation that renews sales, specifically in the Pharmaceuticals division. HGS works with the field representative teams to renew orders, with a high-performing outbound initiative that focuses on DDS office recruitment and renewals with complementary product bags. “We work closely with the client to make sure we have the product knowledge and know-how to sell these products,” says Scott Yates, HGS General Manager. This contributes to brand recognition and renewals for our client partner.”
HGS currently provides inbound customer care, as well as email and social media monitoring, to support this client’s noteworthy growth, supporting three business units: oral care, personal care, and home care. In November 2015, HGS celebrated 10 years of partnership with this client. The day was full of festivities as the client allowed HGS to close down the phones and take the team off site. Together, HGS and the client partner reflected on what life was like ten years ago in the world and how much things have changed—with breakthrough successes in service level, abandon rate, attrition, quality, and innovation, such as the social media program and deep dive monitoring.
The solution
Top three performer in client survey for 10 consecutive years
How we do it
A client retention center has played a prominent role in our partnership success. This client area of focus protects and preserves brand, and HGS has played an important role developing processes to support it. For example, in January 2016, the client showed their trust in HGS when they turned to us for a key area of our business—a customer at risk of leaving the brand. HGS responded with a process approach that focused on what we identified as five focus areas:
- Provide customer more than what he or she requests.
- Show the customer he or she matters.
- Surprise and delight the customer.
- Invite the customer to return.
- Don’t tell the customer no. Exceed expectations.
In December 2014, our CSRs were also trained on consumer advocacy. This was a way to interact differently with our consumers. There were five levels of advocacy that we trained on, and they were spread out with two topics covered in December 2014, one in June 2015 and another in November 2015. This training enabled our CSRs to become experts as part of a phased approach to learning other levels, such as handling consumer baggage, frictionless experience, positive tone, alternative positioning, and experience focus, with self-awareness emphasis. In October 2016, our CSRs were further trained on brand advocacy for oral care products and homecare products in June 2018.
Business result
HGS has earned status as a top three provider, for 10 years in a row. Our top box ratings cross both consumer and oral pharmaceutical business segments. To maintain this high level of performance and benchmark on success, we employ suggestions on customer interaction average handle time reduction, and training. The client continues to count on us for our signature customer and client focus.
Drive cost containment
How we do it
In July 2015, HGS performed address validation services on this client’s behalf, intended to reduce undeliverable mailpieces shipped by the client or their partners for a specific project as defined by the client. HGS used software licensed by USPS along with a certified process for mailing list management. The process is intended to improve mail deliverability by providing current, standardized, delivery point coded addresses for business moves.
Business result
HGS made a direct contribution to bottom-line cost-containment for the client, saving 15 percent of the initial mailing cost and checked 53,385 addresses.
Improved attrition
How we do it
HGS’s training and employee engagement initiatives are strong contributors to retention success. A focus on performance excellence starts on day one, with a new hire class, specialized product training, and consumer advocacy meetings, including training on “Experience Engineering” and “Positive Language.”
Business result
Attrition averages 40 percent for the Oral Pharmaceuticals division of the HGS team, with 62 percent of team members committed to the Oral Pharmaceuticals team for more than a year. And seven agents have been with the program since inception.
AHT reduction
How we do it
HGS aimed to improve efficiencies and provide customers a low-effort customer experience to ensure this client partner maintained market leadership. To target a significant improvement over the 2014 benchmark, HGS implemented a Time Study and monthly AHT benchmark to keep improvement closely on track with team goals. The Time Study comprises auto capture of phone number, with a new telephone number field, to ensure fast handling. CRM notes and dual monitors for agents were additional enhancements to support the team. The HGS initiatives in this area helped empower agents to resolve issues faster, with shorter hold times and lower effort for both callers and agents. A strong floor presence, with management in place and high-profile and consistent branding, ensures coaching to drive documentation during calls, with more coaching opportunities and stronger recap, for fewer errors overall.
Business result
For 2015, the HGS team has achieved a dramatic 24-second reduction in AHT. Notably, tenured agents dropped an average of 66 seconds.
Digital solutions
How we do it
With a focus on outreach and new product promotion and monitoring via corporate pages, Facebook, HGS has found growth in such social media benchmarks as likes, shares, and mentions of product launches.
Business result
The digital solutions HGS provides answer to today’s digital consumer needs. In response to one promotion, HGS received 243 reviews of this product, with 237 four- and five-star reviews. This client has experienced 10 percent fewer escalations as a result of social media monitoring, and a 41 percent increase in mentions.
Results
3Top 3 provider, for 10 years in a row
15%cost savings with quality monitoring
~ 25%improvement compared to peers
~ 24 secondsdecreased handle time over 2014
3:1agent efficiency, as compared to voice
41%increase in mentions
